Gov. hopeful Gessler casts Colorado as foundering

The secretary of state blames Gov. Hickenlooper for the state's failures.

Sep. 19, 2013

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Scott Gessler

Secretary of State Scott Gessler painted a dismal picture of Colorado for a small gathering of supporters in Fort Collins on Wednesday, the morning after he announced his candidacy for governor.

He said the state is slouching toward lawlessness and economic ruin akin to Chicago and Detroit. He called Colorado’s voting laws with mandatory vote centers and universal mail ballots the worst in the country.

Gessler, a Republican, scapegoated incumbent Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper for those circumstances and more to a crowd of eight, ranging in age from about 60 and older, assembled at The Elks lodge in Fort Collins.

“When you look at what does he stand for, it’s really sort of a lot of nothing,” Gessler said.

While he concedes as secretary of state he can do little to aid the flood recovery efforts in Northern Colorado, Gessler hinted that Hickenlooper hasn’t done enough.

“Probably the one thing that I can do is, you know, spend some time thinking about it — analysis — and make that a campaign issue and push the governor,” Gessler said. He criticized Hickenlooper for not visiting Fort Collins since the flood. The city was largely spared compared with others around it.

Gessler cast the governor as out of touch with Coloradans outside of urban population centers.

“I wouldn’t probably call you all rural here, but I would say he’s not a real fan of anyone outside of the Denver/Boulder corridor,” Gessler said. “He’s pretty much entrenched there.”

Gessler’s campaign announcement could hardly be characterized as a surprise. He filed candidate paperwork months ago.

“I’ve found that I’m not able to accomplish the things I want as secretary of state,” requiring photo identification for voting among them, Gessler said. “Right now it’s a dream. We can’t get it through the Democratic Legislature and the governor would never approve of it.”

Hickenlooper’s campaign did not respond to a message seeking a comment about Gessler entering the race. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo’s seized Gessler’s entry to the race as an opportunity to attack the sitting governor.

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"I welcome Scott to the race with the hope we can work together to give the Republican Party the best chance at defeating our failed governor,” Tancredo said. “While I'm confident voters will see my campaign as having the best chance at victory, it can't hurt having another candidate exposing the corrupt and destructive policies being forced on Colorado by Hickenlooper and his radical special-interest backers."

Tancredo issued a statement recently calling on GOP candidates for governor to avoid backbiting during the primary that would undermine their chances to unseat Hickenlooper in November 2014.

Gessler joins immigration hardliner Tancredo and outspoken Second Amendment advocate state Sen. Greg Brophy of Wray in the hunt for the Republican nomination.

Gessler touted his experience as an executive office holder and his willingness to stand up to criticisms — and there have been many — of his handling of the secretary of state job. He said that separates him from the rest of the Republican field.

“You’ve seen what I’ve done as secretary of state,” Gessler said. “I’ve taken a sleepy administrative backwater, and I’ve changed it in a way that it’s never been changed before in the history of the state of Colorado.”

He cited reducing business fees and increasing voter registration among his accomplishments.

As one of just four Republicans to win election to statewide office in Colorado during the past decade, Gessler said he is the most viable of the Republican candidates in a head-to-head general election with Hickenlooper.

Brophy said he believes his experience as a lawmaker gives him an edge in the race.

“I have a broader base of knowledge of the issues that matter to everybody in Colorado and the proven track record of a leader in the Legislature working on those issues,” he said. “Like successful governors of the past, that experience you get from serving in the Legislature and working on issues that matter to people makes for a successful governor.”

Brophy said the growing field of Republican gubernatorial hopefuls signals blood in the water from the Hickenlooper camp that one year ago seemed safe. But the governor’s support for controversial gun control legislation and abeyance of a mass killer’s execution have hurt Hickenlooper’s popularity with right-leaning voters who originally embraced him, while his friendly relationship with the oil and gas industry has eroded support with a segment of his Democratic base.

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But Gessler’s campaign will also have to overcome baggage. The state’s Independent Ethics Commission ruled he committed an ethics violation by twice pocketing year-end remainders from his office’s discretionary fund. He repaid approximately $1,500.

His initiative to scrutinize the citizenship status of thousands of immigrants who voted in the state came under fire from immigrants’ rights groups, and the political left accused Gessler of trying to suppress votes ahead of the 2012 election to improve the fortunes of Republican candidates, along the way turning up a negligible amount of voters who shouldn’t have cast ballots.

Confronted with those hurdles to his campaign, Gessler noted that Hickenlooper used a state plane to carry family and friends to an event, and he dismissed his ethics violation as an issue overblown by his political rivals. He contends voters want more election integrity and won’t be swayed by his scrutiny of immigrant voters.